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I've had a few tough steaks over the years on cruise ships, pretty much in the main dining rooms, the specialty restaurants do a better job with better cuts of meat. I typically avoid ordering any chicken at dinner on any ship...it just tastes reheated to me.

The absolute worst meals I've ever had on a cruise ship were the curry risotto (main dish meal) on NCL Star and pretty much "lobster" night on any line. It's rather odd (to me) that many others look forward to tough, overcooked lobster, maybe they just like the melted butter? Why do we keep trying it? We've learned to order one entree to share between us and load up on the salads and appetizers instead. I think once out of 20 or so cruises we've had almost good lobster in the main dining room.

That curry risotto was in 2002 and I still remember how nasty it was, I don't remember what my husband had but he didn't like his food, either. We got up and went to the buffet afterward...the food wasn't any better there. So, the rest of that cruise, dinners were in the specialty restaurants.

For years people raved about the honey stung chicken on RCI on boarding day at the buffet. I haven't cruised RCI in a couple years, so I don't know if it's still served. The stuff had a fatty feel to the tongue and very little actual meat on the chicken, mostly just the breading with sticky "honey" sauce. I wanted to prove myself wrong, so tried it several times...nope, always pretty bad.

Food is so subjective. I have a brother in law who will rave about a restaurant...we try it and think it's just average or not so great. I think a lot of my distaste for restaurant food comes from the fact that I cook fresh at home and can tell the difference between fresh and frozen veggies and meat, fresh or bagged dehydrated lettuce.

Feel the urge to relate this old tale. When DD was about 6 we took her on a Sitmar cruise. On one of the formal nights we went to a cocktail party where waiters were coming around with all kinds of hors d'oeurves and DD spotted a piece of toast with a topping she thought was chocolate. She quickly grabbed this item off the tray and popped it into her little mouth. Within a couple of seconds she got this horrid look on her face, a few tears in her eyes, but she still finished her snack without a sound. She had just had her first (and to this day 27 years later her last) taste of caviar!

Hank

When I was 6 myself, I was lucky enough to travel with my parents in First Class Transatlantic. We were the only passengers in First and when the Cabin Attendant asked me what I wanted for started, I told her, with a posh intonation Caviar! So be it, se gave me the WHOLE pot, of extremely expensive Beluga Malossol... First time caviar for me, and a couple of hours later also the first time becoming sick onboard an airplane...

Only been on one cruise so far on Navigator of the Seas. I agree with whomever said that the hamburgers and hot dogs in the Windjammer were inedible. Tried them on embarkment day and it was a huge mistake! The bun was so stale that it broke.

The other nominee I have for worst meal was the beef stroganoff in the MDR. It wasn't bad per se, but it tasted like chili and it was super weird.

__________________
“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

Navigator of Seas- February 2012
(Celebrity Eclipse- November 2012(Had to cancel because I lost my job ))
Celebrity Silhouette- January 2013

I don't know if they still have it or not but I was on the Carnival Conquest in 2003 & 2004 when they did the chocolate buffet on the final sea day. I have always loved chocolate and tried everything. The ONLY tasty item was a banana fritter! I don't know how it was possible to have so many horrible chocolate creations in one room.

On a happier note, all of deserts I had with my meals were really good. I loved the creme brulee' and tiramisu.

Ships have to fight the moisture in the air. I know if I leave my balcony door open for a little my clothes sitting out get a mustiness to them. That's why even the potato chips get stale quickly. So perhaps they have to slightly toast all the buns to keep them from getting soggy? Then they sit under those heat lamps that just keep toasting them & toasting them?

Now as for the hot dogs? Those are just plain bad. The lines have partnered up with so many, they should partner up with Nathan's or Sabretts in there!!

I am sailing back to back this Sunday & RCL has revamped all their menus. Printed them out & I have seen some of my favorites leave, but lots of new stuff that looks interesting. Open minded, I have 2 weeks to try everything.

The Eggs Benedict on Princess which are overcooked and dried out. At least that's what they were on the UBB. This was our substitution for the lox.

Now I am not a big fan of salmon but had it on the Coral Princess in 2007 with the butter sauce and it was yummy. Next year on the Grand, no more butter sauce, now melted butter with herbs. No good. I guess the real butter sauce just masked the flavor of the salmon. LOL.

After hearing much hype about this on the boards, I tried it in the Windjammer and was disappointed. It was even a fresh batch put out on the buffet and it wasn't crispy and lacked flavor. I've heard the room service version can be good, though.

Sushi on the Grand Princess was awful. We love good sushi and when we saw it we were quite happy because it looked great. But put it in your mouth and you were looking for a way to discreetly spit it out! Sushi on the Maasdam was only marginally better.

While it probably works most of the time to listen to your waiter, it's not a slam dunk. On a cruise on Celebrity, our waiter tried to talk me out of braised short ribs. Said they were too fatty and I wouldn't like them. I order them anyway, and they were the best thing I had the entire cruise of mostly not very good food.

The worst dish I have encountered on a cruise would have to belong to Carnival.."The Legend" They actually served (on the dinner menu)...MEATLOAF !!! It was cool, greasy, and did not resemble meat. I asked the waiter if they might be serving fried chitterlings the next day ? Had no clue.... What a poor excuse for dinner.

On last week's cruise (Legend – RCI) I would finish every dish I ordered. Some meals were okay, and some were above average to great [overall very happy with the food in the MDR]. But there was one entre, and one soup, that I could not really stomach.

The soup was the duck consommé. I usually tend to order the cold soups on cruises (since I do not usually eat then stateside). But it seemed interesting. It was pretty much tasteless.

The entre, believe it or not, was the leg of lamb. I was looking forward to it when I saw it on the menu. It was well prepared, and very moist, but it was just not palatable (for me). I even accepted some mint jelly to put on it to give it some real flavor, and it still did not help. My waiter was nice and offered me something else when he saw I was not eating it (I usually pollished off everything on my plate), but did go to the next table to ask them if they liked their food (half of them had the lamb) - and they said they liked it.

On another note – the pre-packaged tuna and egg salad sandwiches in the park café at night are horrible.

On an Alaskan cruise I ordered a fish called Zander. It was awful. I wrote in my journal that I didn't like it then looked at the journal from the year before and it turned out I'd ordered it and hated it then too. I had forgotten and must have been intrigued by the name. I have it burned in my memory now but I've not seen it on the menu again.

The worst dish I have encountered on a cruise would have to belong to Carnival.."The Legend" They actually served (on the dinner menu)...MEATLOAF !!! It was cool, greasy, and did not resemble meat. I asked the waiter if they might be serving fried chitterlings the next day ? Had no clue.... What a poor excuse for dinner.

I had meatloaf on a cruise and it was also bad. I told the waiter and he said he knew what I meant because he'd had meatloaf at the Golden Corral restaurant and he knew what good meatloaf was. I've never eaten at one but after the scandal last week I don't think I'd rush right over even if they had one in my area.